Pneumatic ordnance



No. 6|4,878. Patented Nov.29, |898. D. M. MEFFORD.

PNEUMATIC ORDNANCE.

ion led Dec. 29, 1897.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

DAVID M. MEFFORD, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO CLARK W. HARRISON, OF SOUTH PITTSBURG, TENNESSEE.

PN EU MATIC ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,878, dated November 29, 1898.

Application filed December 29, 1897. Serial No. 664,238. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID M. MEEEORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Guns, of which the following is a specification.

A patent for this invention has been granted in England, No. 830, dated January 13, 1896.

My invention relates to pneumatic guns or ordnance; and my Objectis to simplify the construction ot' such guns as now made and not only reduce the number of parts, but to apply the compressed air to the projectile in a direction coincident with the axial line of the bore of the gun instead of introducing the air in a direction at right angles to the line of travel of the projectile.

The invention includes an air chamber placed in line with the bore of the gun and in rear of the breech, with an intermediate controller for the pressure, simple means for charging the air-chamber and manipulating the controller from the same source of compressed air, and a novel form of receiver for the projectile, constitutingl a section of the bore, adapted to be tilted or swung to receive the projectile and then restored to normal position to present the projectile in line with the bore and directly in front of the air-chamber from which the force or power is derived.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the bore, the gear and operating mechanism for the valve or controller being partly in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a detailed section of the receiver and a part of the barrel a quarter turned from the section of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 andare views of a modied form of receiver.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the gun-barrel is shown atA and may be of the usual or any desirable type. Behind the breech I locate a compressed-air chamber or reservoir B. This chamber is securely bolted to the open breech of the gun, being bolted to the flanges A by the bolts B', and the chamber is connected to a suitable source of compressed-air supply in any desirable manner. The chamber B is in direct line with the bore of the gun, as shown, and the compressed air is controlled in its action upon the projectile by a valve D or controller located intermediate of the chamber B and the initial position of the projectile when ready to be discharged. This valve D closes the passage when in the position shown in Fig. l, and when a quarter turned opens it, as this movement brings the passage through the valve in line with the bore of the gun and connects the bore with the chamber B. The valve is simply and conveniently operated through a segment E on the end of the valve, this segment meshing with a rack F,Which, in turn, is connected at each end with the ends of a piston-rod G', fitted to a cylinder G, and the piston withinthe cylinder is operated by airpressure through the pipe K, branch H3, and the passages G2, the supply being under control of the valve I-I4 in the pipe H3, and by a four-way valve H the pressure may be directed to one end or the other of the cylinder to move the piston and rod to open or close the valve D. A lever H controls the four-way valve H, and the valve is provided with an exhaustport H5.

In orderto conveniently insert the projectile ready for discharge, I provide a receiver which is adapted to be moved in relation to the gun proper and expose one end to receive the charge and then be moved back into proper position indirect axial line. I have shown kone form of the receiver in Figs. 1 and 2, in which O is the receiver, pivoted upon pivots C in the gun-barrel, so that it can be turned with its bore coinciding with that of the gun-barrel or at an anglethereto, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The pivots may either drop into their proper posi- -tion through slots formed in the metal of the gun, which would be strengthened at that part for the purpose, or the trunnions may be separate from the receiver and screwed into it from outside, the latter arrangement being indicated in the drawings. The ends of the receiver are preferably oblique, as

.shown in Fig-2, and the necessary openings C2 are made in the gun to allow of the movement of the receiver. Any suitable means may be employed for operatin g and fixing the receiver, and if the gun be ritled the grooves and lands of the receiver will correspond with those of the gun, so that when the receiver is closed in the position indicated in Fig. 1 the rifling will be continuous throughout both IOO gun and receiver. By this means Without employing a detachable breech I am nevertheless able to load the gun from the breech end. It will be noticed that the barrel is recessed internally about the bore of the gun and the receiver is seated in this recess when in normal position. This receiver, as indicated in the drawings, islet into the substance of the gun-barrel and turns quite independently of the latter. I prefer that it should turn in a horizontal plane, as indicated in Fig. l, and any desired means to lessen the friction may be employed. It is only necessary to rotate the receiver sufficiently so that the projectile can be easily inserted into the same.

In Figs. 3 and t I show a modified form of receiver. In this form I dispense with the trunnions and make the forward end of the receiver rounded, as at a, and fit this rounded end to a socket I), made in a separate piece c, which is iitted to the barrel of the gun, as at d. The rounded end of the receiver is also preferably of a separate piece fittedto the central part d' of the receiver; but the particular manner of connecting'the parts is not material, the important feature of the modification being practically a ball-and-socket connection at its forward end, allowing it to swing outwardly easily. In order to more accurately guide the receiver as it moves outwardly and inwardly, I provide dovetailed ribs p p, extending from a table or projection g, these ribs engaging corresponding grooves in the receiver. The ribs and groovesv are formed ou a curve to correspond to the outward swing of the receiver as it turns on the rounded end in the socket. Thus the receiver is accurately guided to prevent any uncertain or loose movement.

It is very necessary that the turning of the valve shall be eiected by a single movement and that a very rapid one, and the construction which I have shown is very eltective in this particular, as the rack under the impulse of the pressure in the piston G, turning the valve D, either opens or closes the same completely in one movement.

That I claim isl. In combination, in a pneumatic gun, the barrel having a recess in its Walls about the bore, a receiver pivoted to the barrel to be seated in the recess thereof, and having a continuous bore therethrough, a valve in rear of the receiver and in line with the bore of the gun, and a compressed-air chamber in rear of the valve, substantially as described.

2. In combination in a pneumatic gun, a barrel a compressed-air chamber, a controlling-valve in the barrel and in front of the airchamber and pneumatic operating means for said valve, substantially as described.

3. In combination,the barrel, acompressedair chamber, a controlling-valve, means for opening and closing it bya movement in one direction and the four-way controlling-valve for said means to give it a movement irst in one direction and then in the reverse direction for the successive discharge, substantially as described.

4t. In combination, the barreha compressedair chamber, a controlling-valve, the rack and segment for operating the valve, the pneu` matic means for operating the rack and segment in one direction and then in the other and the four-way valve controlling the movement of said pneumatic means, substantially as described.

5. In combination in a pneumatic gun, a receiver for the projectile, said receiver having a ball-and-socket connection at one end to the barrel with the bore continued therethrougli,said receiver bein g laterally movable to expose the opposite end for loading, substantially as described.

6. In combination, in a pneumatic gun, a receiver for the projectile having a ball-andsocket connection to the barrel with the bore extending therethrough, said receiver being laterally movable and guides for directing the lateral movement, substantially as described.

7. In combination in a pneumatic gun, a barrel, a compressed-air chamber, a controlling-valve, a toothed segment secured to the valve, a continuous rack and means for operating the rack, the said controlling-valve being opened and closed by a continuous movement in one direction imparted thereto from the rack and segment, substantially as described.

S. In combination in a pneumatic gun, a barrel, a compressed-air chamber, a controlling-valve, and means for operating the said valve in one direction to open and close it by a single continuous movement of said valve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID lli. MEFFORD.

IVitnesses:

WM. F. HALL, HENRY Coornn. 

